Ends or Beginnings?
by Shinigami Hilde
Summary: It's really over isn't it?" she asked. "Yup." he responded, not looking at her.' Conversations after Naraku's demise lead to thoughts and wishes that free the heart of the Shikon no Tama.


Ends or Beginnings?

Disclaimer: Do you seriously think I'd be writing this if I owned them?

By: Shinigami Hilde

The two of them stood on the cliff's edge hand in hand, surveying the damage done to the land. Both looked pensive, and a little sad. She lifted her left hand up and in it glowed the fresh pink of the newly restored Shikon no Tama. She gazed at it for a few long moments and then back out at the mess.

"It's really over, isn't it?" She asked, letting her hand drop back.

"Yup." He responded, not looking at her.

"I never thought it would end."

"Neither did I."

"I don't think any of us did."

"Probably not."

"…Do you think Sango-chan will be okay, what with Kohaku-kun and all?"

"She's got Miroku with her now. I'm sure she'll do just fine."

"And what about Shippou? And Kouga-kun?"

"He wasn't after Naraku in the first place, was he? He'll be fine too. Kaede-baba'll probably adopt him. Old bag always had a thing for stranded children. As for that wimpy wolf, who the fuck knows? I'm glad he survived, along with Kagura, but as long as he keeps his nose out of my business he'll be fine too."

"You're probably right."

"Of course I am."

The pair lapsed into silence again for a while, each lost in his and her thoughts, somehow the thoughts were connected though, and pretty much the same. She broke the silence again after a bit.

"Are you sad that it's all over?"

"A little."

"Me too." She paused here, somewhat afraid to go on with her next question, but he beat her to it.

"Kikyou's gone."

She shot him a glance. He still didn't look at her, so she turned back to look out along the cliff; answering with a melancholy voice. "I know… Are you sad about that?"

He thought for a moment, and then shook his head. "No. She's been in pain too long. It's good that she's finally getting to rest the way she should; to tell the truth I was getting tired of all the guilt and sad regret I felt every time I smelt her."

She simply felt stunned with that answer, and only managed a mumbled "Oh." in response. He cattycornered her question then. "Are you glad she's gone?"

She blinked and turned to stare at him, fumbling over her words. "I-I don't…" she sighed "I don't know." she finally said, truthfully.

She failed to elaborate, and to her relief he didn't press for an explanation. He just nodded finally turning to look at her. "So what are you going to do now?"

It was her turn to pause and think for a moment. She lifted the Shikon no Tama up again, twisting it in her fingers. "I don't know. I suppose I ought to return home. My job is finished here after all, we've restored the Shikon no Tama. Though I don't think I'll be able to come back…I really don't want to leave." She added the last sentence as a whisper, but he caught her words anyway, and because she was looking down she failed to see the look of utter horror rising in his amber eyes.

He grasped both her hands then. "Then don't." He said simply. "Stay here with us.-With me."

She blinked away tears then, and lifted her gaze to his. "B-but I can't…I've got family on the other side, a life, a future…"

"You have all of that here too."

"But-"

He shushed her then with a finger to her lips. "Has it ever occurred to you that you were brought here for more then just the Shikon no Tama? When you came here it was whole then, wasn't it? It was imbedded in you-wasn't it? You didn't shatter it till three days after you'd been here and woke me up. I think you were brought here for more then restoring that glass bauble. In any case, you have the choice, Kagome…You've got the restored Shikon no Tama in your hands…You can choose."

He removed his finger and she batted her lids. "But-don't you want it?" She asked, confused.

He shook his head. "If there's one thing I've learned from this whole experience it's that there are far more important things then becoming a full blooded youkai," he paused for a moment, then as an afterthought added "or a human…You told me once you liked me best the way I am. I hold that true, and so have chosen to stay this way. But now it's your turn to choose, and though I want you to stay with me forever-I can't make you." he finished with a side glance to hide any emotion that might start to bubble in his eyes, and turned away from her, leaving her to stare after him and the pink ball in her palm.

She sighed and ran her thumb over the smooth pink surface, the wind tossed her hair about her face and tears clouded her vision. "I wish…I wish…I wish with all my heart that I could continue to come back and forth from here to my era just like always and forever, so I could be with Inuyasha forever…" she whispered pressing her lips together and hugging the jewel to her chest.

Inuyasha turned his head to face hers now. "Come on…It's getting dark, if you choose to go back you'll have to wait till morning. Best we sleep now."

She blinked up at him, and nodded, hurrying to follow while unbeknownst to her, the Shikon no Tama glowed white.

The sun had sunk quickly and it was now just a couple hours till dawn; everything in the forests were quiet and pensive. Including a silent and brooding hanyou as he sat by the waning fireside, the little green miko he'd come to cherish after so long beside him, sound asleep in her sleeping bag.

He'd remained wide awake a good portion of the night, thinking on the things the two had spoken so briefly on in the twilight hours before sunset. No solutions had come to him that would make what they both wanted into a reality.

He knew he should have been happy, after all Naraku-was dead, the tama-was restored, Kikyou had been laid to rest, everyone that should have survived did, and even though Kohaku would never be the same in the head again, he was back with his sister, alive and well. (Begrudgingly all thanks to Sesshoumaru, but what could he do?) He should have been content with this. But the knowledge that he may loose the one thing that kept him going through it all, the one person that had literally saved his life more than once and in more than one way, caused him the deepest grief. He looked over at the bundle beside him with a long-suffering glance.

"Kagome…"

Apparently in the depths of her mind she heard him, because she made a small moan, turning over and whispering his name right back. He let a small smile play on his lips till he noticed that clutched in her open hand was the Shikon no Tama. With a straight face he leaned over and picked the bauble up, turning it over and over in his claws. "So much grief, pain and hardship all for such a tiny thing."

He sighed, running his hand down his face and leaning back against the tree, still looking at the small ball. With a quick snap like motion it was locked in his palm and he brought it to his chest. "I wish, wish with everything I have, that Kagome and I could go back and forth through the well when we choose forever and for always…I want her to be with me forever."

Suddenly the tama began to glow a bright, blinding opalescent white. Inuyasha grunted, startled and dropped it in favor of shielding his eyes from the almost sun like glare. "What the fuck?!"

A soft and bell-like voice tingled in his ear. "Thank you…"

He blinked, daring to lower his sleeve to get a better look around for the owner of the voice. "What-who the hell are you? Show yourself!"

The blinding light paled, calming down to something that was easier on the eyes, and a ghost-like apparition evolved from it in front of him in the shape of a woman who had a warm smile on her face. He gasped, his eyes going wide. "Midoriko…"

She nodded sagely. "Yes, so you do remember." She chuckled. "I knew you would, I also knew it would be you and her," she nodded to the girl in the sleeping bag, "who would set me free at last. And I thank you for it."

Inuyasha gave a confused look, sending a glance in the sleeping Kagome's direction, then back to the ghostly Midoriko. "What do you mean?"

"You know well that the Shikon no Tama could not only give youkai excessive power but make wishes come true. It all depended really on who made them. The true love you, a hanyou and she, a miko have conditioned for each other aided in the wishes the pair of you made. They were one of the same and pure of heart. That's what broke me from this prison and helped me finally succeed in the long battle I've been fighting within the tama for so long. Now I can rest in peace. Your wish will be granted. Kagome and you can pass through the time-well without trouble for the rest of your lives, and remain together for always. Again, I thank the both of you." and without a further word the apparition faded away, leaving only a slight mist and empty air where she had been. And no jewel.

Inuyasha sat in stunned silence for a bit. Kagome stirred in her sleeping bag, waking up. She pushed her hair back from her face and gazed at Inuyasha in slight perplexity. "Inu-ya-sha? Are-you okay? What's going on? Is it-morning yet?" She was very groggy.

The hanyou finally had gotten a grasp on the situation and looked at the girl with a beaming, stupid grin on his face. "Yes, nothing and no." he responded flatly, then added. "Go back to sleep, I'll tell you in the morning."

She blinked, more confused than ever. "But in the morning I'll have to go back…" she cut herself off, that thought was very painful.

To her utter surprise the hanyou just kept his goofy grin on. "Don't worry about it. I'll tell you in the morning."

"…B-but…"

His grin left his face then, and he grabbed up her hands with one of his and her face with the other and bent down to kiss her soundly. He pulled back then, looking her right in the eyes, his thumb roving circles on her cheek, a small smile playing on his face. "Trust me Kagome, I'll explain it when the sun rises…just go back to sleep now. It'll all be okay." And to emphasize the point as well as shut her up, he pulled her into his arms.

All she could do was blink in complete surprise-but with an entreaty like that how could she refuse? He'd never led her wrong before…So she accepted it for the moment, and settled in the crook of his arm, drifting off again, and murmuring one last thing before she faded. "I love you…"

He just smiled again, and looked at the sky, answering her quietly. "I know."

"Thank you Midoriko…"

Owari.


End file.
